Stowaway
by The Penguin of Oz
Summary: She was looking for a way, any way, to escape. It didn't matter where she went. Even if she was only delaying her death another day, she needed to get off of the island immediately. Sanji x OC
1. The Strange Girl

Chapter 1 The Strange Girl

The sky was growing dark as night fell and the little amount of light left revealed a girl, running for her life. If you saw her you wouldn't have been able to see _what_ she wasrunning from, but she was running quickly all the same. Her bare feet clapped softly on the ground and the old cloak she was wearing flew out behind her. Her long brown hair flew about wildly as she ran down several old pathways towards the ocean before she could pull the hood up.

She was looking for a way, any way, to escape. It didn't matter where she went. Even if she was only delaying her death another day, she needed to get off of this island immediately. She stopped at the docks for only a moment before sneaking onto a ship nearby and hiding inside it almost immediately. Nobody saw her sneak onboard. Nobody saw her find a room below deck and hide in the corner behind a barrel. Nobody saw her shed her silent tears in the dark.

* * *

"Hey Luffy! Hurry up will ya? The log already set, see?" Nami held up her arm and pointed to the log-pose on her wrist.

"Geez Nami, I'm coming! I-" Luffy was cut off by some scary looking men who stormed the docks.

"Hey you two! You haven't seen anybody suspicious running around here have you?"

"No, why?" The men ignored Nami's question and began to look around for their target.

Sanji and Zoro rounded the corner, Sanji pulling Zoro by his arm angrily.

"Stop pulling me cheese-head!"

"Well maybe I wouldn't have to if you didn't get lost every time I took my eyes off of you, ya shitty swordsman!"

"Hey! Will you guys please just hurry it up?" Nami frowned as she pulled Luffy on board after her.

"Haii Nami-swannn~" Nami sighed in both exasperation and relief as they boarded the ship.

"Good, now let's go. I don't want to stay on this island any longer than I have to. Is everybody here?"

Nami looked around and located Zoro, Sanji and Luffy but didn't see the other two she knew had to be hiding somewhere.

"Ussop! Chopper! Where the heck are you guys?" Chopper rolled out of a room giggling.

"We're in here! Ussop was just telling me how he-" Everybody aside from Luffy tuned out. They didn't care for the long-nosed boy's tall tales.

The group set sail for the next island on their journey, completely unaware that they had a stowaway.

* * *

The girl who had been hiding groaned quietly. It had been five whole days since they had left the island. She had hoped they would have gotten somewhere land-based sooner than now. She stretched her limbs slightly while in her hiding place and stood up slowly. She almost tumbled from pure dizziness.

She hadn't eaten yet. It's not like she wasn't used to not getting much food, but not getting any at all made her feel rather sick. She would find a snack. She wasn't sure where she was or who she was with but she would prefer almost anything to not eating another day. Night had fallen and so she climbed up the ladder carefully from her hiding spot and opened the hatch above her head slowly to peek outside.

There was nobody in sight, but she didn't let her guard down. Who knows how many people could be hiding or sleeping in this ship? The girl pulled her hood up over her head and hid her appearance completely. Maybe if she was spotted, they wouldn't recognize her as a stranger right away… Yeah, because your average sailor wore a cloak around the ship for no reason.

Under normal circumstances she would have smelled the salt in the air and felt the wind on her skin. She would have simply reveled in the fact that she was free of all that held her prisoner before. Yet sadly this was not a normal time. She was too hungry to think straight. She could barely walk straight at that.

Maybe she had an amazing amount of luck or a heightened sense of smell due to her hunger, but the first room she tried was the kitchen. She closed the door almost silently behind her as she crept into the room. She looked around and was about to walk towards the fridge when a light clicked on, blinding her momentarily.

"Dammit Luffy how many times have I told you not to raid the kitchen!?" An angry voice came from the direction the light was turned on and the girl suddenly felt a sharp pain in her side.

She flew across the room and hit the wall. Hard. At least enough to crack the wall. All the breath was knocked out of her and she rolled over gasping and choking for breath. Her hood fell off revealing to the blonde in the room that she was _not _Luffy and that she was a very much a disoriented girl… whom the blonde had just kicked full out against the wall.

"Shit! Who the hell are you?" Sanji pulled on his hair as he rushed over to her side and tried to help her up. "I'm sorry; I thought you were someone else, I… Who are you?"

She didn't respond as she was trying, and failing, to hold her legs steadily underneath her. She finally managed to get into a chair with Sanji's help and dropped against the table. He sat across from her and tried to give her a smile, but he just couldn't. He was just too confused.

"I'm sorry, but who are you?" The girl looked at him with sad deep green eyes that could have melted even the hardest heart in the world.

"C-can I please h-have something t-to eat?" She croaked desperately and he jumped in realization. With lightning speed he grabbed some bread and water and handed them to her.

Despite how obviously hungry she was, before she ate she bowed her head to him in thanks and ate politely. He stared at her while she ate silently until he realized he was being rude. She took a small swallow of water and began to cough.

"T-thank you. I'm s-sorry…" Sanji frowned and looked at the solemn girl curiously.

"For what? Being hungry?" He shook his head. "Don't worry about it. But where did you come from? Did we pass some wreckage and not notice or something?" she shook her head slowly only to grab it because the motion hurt.

"I… I stowed away on the last island. I'm sorry, I thought if I could just get away from that island… I didn't plan to bother you… but I just got so hungry." She started to tear up and Sanji's heart shattered.

She had been here since the last island? That would mean she had been hiding with no food or water for _days_! How could nobody have noticed her? He was about to ask her something else when she began to cough violently and when she pulled back her hand she tried to hide it, but he caught the blood in it.

"You're hurt!" She let out a pained dry laugh.

"It happens." She tried to stand up but she wobbled and fell over onto the ground.

"Hey!" Sanji shoved himself back from the table, dropping his chair to the ground.

He ran over to her and she was out cold by the time he reached her. He checked her pulse and sighed in relief when he found it was still beating. He felt her head and winced when he realized how hot she was. He picked her up gently and kicked his door open. He held her unconscious form carefully as he ran to Chopper's door. He began to knock on it loudly.

"Chopper!" BANG. BANG. BANG. "Oi, Chopper it's an emergency!" The little reindeer who had been waking up slowly inside jolted at the word 'emergency.' He rushed to the door and swung it open to reveal an extremely worried Sanji holding a strange girl who seemed to be in need of immediate medical attention.

"Put her on that bed now! Carefully though, I don't know what's wrong with her." Chopper began to scurry around the room, gathering objects and turning on lights.

Sanji put her down gently on the bed and looked at her sadly as she had trouble breathing. Chopper put his stethoscope to her chest and began to measure her heart-rate and breathing.

"Sanji, can you tell me what happened?"

"I-I don't know! She came into my kitchen out of nowhere needing some food and water b-but I thought she was Luffy! I…" Sanji bit his lip. "I kicked her. I don't know what I'll do if, if-"

Chopper lifted his hoof to silence the flustered Sanji.

"Worrying about that now won't help. Thank you for telling me though. Do you know how long she was without water?"

"A-about five days at least." Chopper jumped.

"Five days?! Go get me some water! Fast!" Sanji nodded and ran from the room to get her some water.

Chopper felt her burning forehead and tried to sit her up slightly on some pillows. How did this girl get so bad? Did she just decide to wait until she was on the verge of death on purpose?

He shook his head. Now was not the time for speculation. Now was the time to be a doctor.

"Can you hear me?" The girl didn't respond and Chopper sighed. "Sanji where are you?" he muttered

"I'm back!" Sanji burst through the door with a glass of water and handed it to Chopper.

"Thank you." Chopper then put the glass to her lips and tilted it slowly to try and get her to drink.

Luckily, even though she was unconscious, she was able to swallow some before she coughed the rest up along with a small amount of blood. Chopper looked at Sanji seriously.

"Sanji I need you to sit here and hold her head up to help her breath okay? When you don't drink enough, the moisture leaves your lungs and you have trouble breathing. I'm going to make her some medicine." Sanji nodded and sat behind her, propping up her head on his side.

Sanji watched Chopper grind some ingredients into medicine and absent mindedly began to stroke some of the girl's hair. The soothing motion seemed to make her breaths calm down some and when he noticed he gave a weak smile. At least he was able to do something to help.

"We'll have to try to get her to swallow this. It would help if you could make some tea to dissolve it in. I can watch her here if you can do that." Sanji nodded slowly. "Thank you Sanji."

Chopper winced as he noticed the girl whimper in her sleep quietly. Probably subconsciously from the loss of contact. He tried to hold her hand but it didn't help her very much as her head occasionally jerked to the side during her heavy breathing fits. Sweat began to plaster her long hair to her face and Chopper tried to wipe some of it off with a cloth as she slept.

It was only a few minutes before Sanji returned, but it felt like hours. He handed the tea to Chopper who promptly stirred the medicine into it. Sanji quickly sat beside the bed and grabbed her hand worriedly.

"You know Chopper, it's partly my fault. If I just hadn't…" She twitched her fingers in his grasp as he tried to lean her upwards into a sitting position.

"You thought she was Luffy though right? He would have taken the hit fine and you know that. She was also very hungry and dehydrated, so it's really not all your fault." Chopper put the cup to her lips and sighed happily when she swallowed the liquid.

She began to shudder a few moments later and then calmed down considerably. She relaxed into the mattress and both boys sighed in relief.

"How long until she gets better?" Chopper shook his little head.

"I don't know Sanji. Maybe you should let her rest." Sanji stood slowly and let go of her hand but a second later she began to shiver again. She began to breathe rapid shallow breaths.

"Chopper! What's happening?!"

"She's hyperventilating! I-I don't know… I… T-try grabbing her hand again!" Sanji picked her hand up immediately and stroked gentle circles on the back of it with his thumb. She calmed down soon after and he sat next to her on the bed and looked at Chopper curiously.

"Chopper, what…"

"I'm not certain, but I think she's latched onto you." He frowned. "Normally this happens when a patient subconsciously recognizes a family member or a loved one they have known for a long time, and they feel the need to hold onto them… Are you sure you don't know her?"

"Positive."

"This is strange" he mused "I would have to ask you not to leave her side for as long as possible Sanji. I don't know what else to say. If you leave it might just kill her."

Sanji didn't know what to say to this either. It wasn't that he minded the company of pretty girls, but when they were unconscious it was a little different. Since he blamed himself it was also somewhat scary. He didn't like not knowing what to do. Sanji nodded in agreement, he would stay in place.

"I can do that much. I can try anyway. We don't know how long she'll be like this though, do we?" Chopper shook his head.

"I can give you another pillow if you need one. That is unless you aren't tired of course. Regardless, I need to go back to sleep. Wake me if anything happens okay?" Sanji nodded and accepted the pillow gratefully.

He lay down awkwardly beside her, still holding her hand gently. She coughed for a moment before calming and snuggling into the bed underneath her. It would have been adorable had she not been covered in sweat and stray tears.

* * *

The next morning running was heard loudly across the ship's deck. Sandals clacking across the floor and doors opening then slamming.

"Sanji?" Another door slammed "Sanji!" Luffy swung open the door to Chopper's room and was about to holler for Sanji when a large Chopper clapped his hand over Luffy's mouth.

"Shhh! You are going to wake up my patient!" Luffy tilted his head and looked at the bed where an unfamiliar girl lay next to Sanji, head moving occasionally in pain and sweating profusely.

"Ehh? Who's she? Is she alright?" Chopper shook his head.

"I don't know. Sanji brought her to me last night and she's very sick. I'll have to ask you not to bother them." Luffy pouted.

"But I'm huunnnnggggrrrrryyyyyy!"

"Shhh!" Chopper simply couldn't understand how someone could take 'Shhh' to mean 'make noise.' Sanji stirred in his sleep and sat up slowly.

"Hmm? Oh, Hi Luffy." Sanji looked down and blushed slightly when he realized he was still holding the girl's hand.

"Sanji! Make me breakfast!" Sanji sighed.

"Haii Haii. Just a second." He swung his legs off of the bed and let go the girl's hand gently.

Luffy grinned happily as Sanji walked towards the door but then stopped smiling when the girl began to twitch.

"Ne, Chopper? What's wrong with her?" Both Sanji and Chopper looked to her as she began to jerk her head from side to side and pant in shallow breaths.

Chopper waved his arms around wildly.

"Sanji!" Sanji practically jumped back onto the bed as he grabbed her into a small hug.

"Sorry. I'm sorry. Please calm down ok?" Her heart rate began to fall and her breathing became normal after a few moments. Sanji sighed. "I don't suppose this would work with anybody else?" Chopper shook his head.

"I highly doubt it. It's already odd enough that she picked one stranger, let alone another."

"Luffy," Sanji frowned "I can't leave this girl alone. You'll have to find something to eat yourself. I'm sorry."

"Wha? But-" Chopper began to push Luffy out of the room.

"You can tell everybody to stay out of here okay?" Luffy pouted.

"But I'm huuu-"

"We get it. You're hungry. Go get something to eat then!" Chopper closed the door and groaned.

"Chopper what are we going to do? I can't just sit here all day can I?"

"You might have to. I don't know how long she's going to be like this but we can hope it won't be too long."

Sanji leaned back in the bed and the girl began to cough. He moved her head so it was easier for her to breath and she choked for a moment before regaining her breath. He sighed as he sat and did nothing besides hold her and occasionally adjust her to help her breathing.

If she was awake he could be apologizing and asking her what her name was. If she was better he could be fawning over her like he did with all the ladies and it would be fun. If she was awake he wouldn't be quite so worried about her. Why did he have to hurt her? Why couldn't they have found her sooner? Why?

Well... I guess that's Chapter 1 then ^ ^

If it's worth continuing, let me know. If not, eh *shrugs shoulders* there's always better stuff to do with my time.


	2. Waking Up

Chapter 2 Waking Up

The whole first day that the girl's presence had been made known was chaos. Everybody just _had _to see her and know who she was. Well, aside from Zoro that is. He didn't really care where the shit-cook was or who the sick girl was. Or at least he didn't let it show.

Chopper spent the day fending of intruders and making medicine while Sanji spent it being near the sick girl. Sanji _had _been tempted to leave when Nami asked for some food but when he told her the situation she understood. She wasn't happy, but she wasn't going to let a girl possibly die because she was hungry.

* * *

A few days later the girl was still unconscious. Sanji was getting weary of having to stay put, but he didn't dare leave. Chopper had gone out to bring them some food and water so they were alone.

Sanji was sitting with his legs hanging off the bed with the girl's head propped up against his side. He moved some of her hair away from her face. Her cheeks were regaining color and her breathing had regulated. Chopper said she should be better soon. He smiled at her calm face.

"You know it's funny really. Not that you're sick, but just everything I guess. I don't really know anything about you, not even your name, and yet I really like you ya know? I guess it's silly to say that, especially since you probably can't hear me. But if you can hear me, please wake up soon. It hurts to see you like this. You need to wake up." He brushed another strand of hair from her face gently and looked at her with a sad smile. "Please wake up." The girl's eyes twitched slightly but didn't open. Sanji's heart skipped a beat.

"Can you hear me?" He spoke calmly "I need you to wake up. Please wake up. You're safe here I promise." Her eyes fluttered open slowly and she blinked before looking up at Sanji with stunning hazel eyes.

He wanted to shout for Chopper or jump up and dance but her eyes were very scared. He grabbed her hand.

"Shhh! It's okay, I promise." Her eyes opened wide at his touch.

"Y-you" she croaked softly "You're m-my angel…" Her vision was blurry but she saw the blonde hair and felt his soothing touch on her hand. She coughed and closed her eyes before leaning back again.

Sanji didn't know what to say. An angel? Is that what she thought he was? He shook his head; maybe she was delusional from her near comatose state. She fell back to sleep again right before Chopper came through the door.

"Chopper! She woke up, but she went back to sleep." He rushed over to her and checked her pulse.

"Are you sure she was awake?" He nodded

"Positive. She spoke to me before she conked out again." Chopper smiled.

"It won't be long then. I'd say an hour or so before she regains consciousness." Sanji grinned and looked back to the girl. He sat and thought about how pretty her eyes were, but maybe that was just because he had only seen her eyelids for the past few days.

True to what Chopper had said, it was just about an hour later that the girl woke up again. Her eyes opened and she looked around slowly. Sanji helped her up slowly when her eyes landed on him.

"Hi. How're you feeling?"

"H-honestly?" Sanji nodded. "Like shit." She tried to laugh but ended up coughing instead. Sanji smiled; at least she was able to joke.

"I'm sorry you don't feel well. Are you okay to talk?"

"Y-yeah. Can I have some water?" Her words were dry and cracked as Sanji handed her a glass of water. "Thanks." She drank it slowly; relaxing at it trickled down her dry throat. She handed it to Sanji when she was done.

"I'm glad you're awake."

"Me too." She gave him a weak smile. "You stayed next to me that whole time didn't you?"

He stiffened and blushed slightly as he nodded. He was afraid she might think he took advantage of her or something. She grabbed his hand and held it gently with a smile.

"Thank you. I don't know exactly what all happened, but every time I felt like I was slipping I felt someone there holding my hand. In my mind you were my angel, so thank you." She leaned over and gave him a gentle hug which he hesitated to return. When Sanji hugged her back she looked up at him and smiled.

"I'm glad you're okay. My name is Sanji. It's nice to officially meet you, Miss…?"

"My name is Amelia." She hugged him tighter. "Sanji is a nice name."

"Thank you?" He didn't know what else to say as Amelia snuggled into his embrace. He backed up after a moment.

"I think I should tell the others that you're awake." Sanji stood to go get them but Amelia grabbed his arm gently. He turned around and saw her eyes watering.

"Let me come with you. I can stand, I'll be fine." She tried to sit up but fell instead. She bit her lip.

"Amelia-chan, please relax. I promise I'll be back but you need to rest." Honestly Sanji felt awful leaving her but he was still glad to properly stretch his legs.

Amelia nodded her head slowly as he left the room. She lay back on the bed and tried to remember what happened.

_I ran away from my home island and snuck on a ship. I got hungry and went to get food… Sanji kicked me?_ Her face paled. She shook her head. _No. That was an accident, he apologized and fed me, but I don't remember what happened after that. Did he take me to another island or am I still on their ship?_ A wave rocking the boat confirmed that it was the latter of the two hypotheses.

The door opened and Sanji came through it along with Chopper, who Amelia did not recognize. She looked at Sanji quizzically.

"Amelia-chan, this is Chopper. He is our doctor and the one who help fix you up." Amelia looked down at the little reindeer who now looked rather nervous. She smiled.

"Thank you doctor." He began to do a little dance happily.

"Don't think that calling me a doctor makes me happy you jerk~" Sanji rolled his eyes and handed Amelia a tray of easily digestible foods.

"If you can eat, Chopper said these would be good for your stomach." Amelia looked at him in surprise.

"For me?" He nodded as she took the tray and sat it in her lap as she leaned forward. "Thank you Sanji."

Amelia gracefully picked up the pair of chopsticks she was given and even with her shaking hands was able to eat politely. After her first bite she almost dropped the chopsticks. She looked at Sanji with sparkles in her eyes.

"What's wrong? Is it not something you like?" She shook her head

"No way, I love it! Please tell whoever cooked it that it's the best food I've ever had in my entire life!" Sanji grinned.

"Well that would be me. I'm glad you like it Amelia." Her eyes opened wide

"Really?! You're amazing!" Hearts popped up in his eyes as she began to eat happily.

It was really surprising how much she was able to eat, even though she still ate politely. Amelia put the empty tray to the side and made a childish grabbing motion in the air to call Sanji over to her. He took a few steps forward and she hugged his waist, which was the only thing in reach.

"Thank you Sanji. You're the best." His face turned bright red when she looked up at him from the bed. He scratched his head.

"Arigato Amelia-chan." Sanji was trying to figure out why her compliments really made him feel special and not just fluttery and happy like all girls' comments towards him made him feel.

She tried once more to stand up with barely any more success than the last time she had tried it. Sanji caught her to keep her from falling.

"Woah there Amelia-chan. You can't go walking around yet, you're not well enough." Amelia pouted.

"I wanted to see the ship." Chopper nodded and looked thoughtful for a moment.

"Some fresh air might do you some good, but you can't walk by yourself right now. You could ask Sanji if he would help you." Sanji nodded willing to help her in any way. Amelia grinned.

"Really? Thank you so much Sanji!" She grabbed onto Sanji as he helped her stand and she put her feet firmly on the ground. She pouted every time she fell to the side a little bit due to her dizziness, but soon they made it to the door. Sanji smiled.

"Do you want to meet my nakama? They're probably all doing one thing or another outside, so you'll see them regardless." Amelia nodded and smiled.

"I'd love to." Amelia leaned against Sanji for support as they left Chopper's room.

Amelia blinked a few times at the sudden brightness that was the sun. Sanji shielded his eyes and looked around briefly. Out of nowhere a young boy fell from above them and bounced a little as he landed. He almost dropped his straw hat as he turned around to face Sanji and Amelia.

"Oh! Sanji! And the sick girl! Hi, I'm Luffy!" Amelia waved happily although Sanji frowned.

"Her name isn't 'sick girl' Luffy. She has the most beautiful name, don't you Amelia-chan?" Amelia giggled

"I like Sanji's name better." Luffy made a laughing sound like 'shishishi' when Sanji's face turned a little red. He pointed to himself.

"Do you like my name too Amelia?" Amelia nodded.

"Luffy's a cool name. I feel like I've heard it somewhere before." He laughed again.

"That's probably because I'm famous! I'm g-" A long-nosed boy shoved his hand over Luffy's mouth.

"D-D-Don't just tell strangers who you are Luffy." He hissed into Luffy's ear. The owner of said ear frowned.

"Awww, why not?" Amelia pretended she hadn't heard what was said; instead she waved at the newcomer.

"Hi. My name is Amelia. It's nice to meet you." Amelia's smile was sincere and the newcomer grinned.

"Greetings Amelia! Name's Ussop! Maybe you've heard of me, they call me Captaiiinnnnnnn Usssoopppppp!" Amelia looked at him with her head tilted sideways.

"You don't really seem like you'd be much of a captain. No offense intended of course." His long nose deflated slightly when Luffy and Sanji began to laugh and nod in agreement.

"Sorry Amelia-chan, he's not _really _the captain. He just likes to pretend he is. Luffy's the captain here, though he may not seem like it either." Amelia smiled at Sanji and then Luffy.

"If Sanji say's Luffy's the captain then I believe him!" She extended her hand towards Luffy who grabbed it and began to shake it rapidly. Amelia lost her balance and tumbled forward across the ship deck, landing on a sleeping man who jumped at the rude awakening.

"Oi! Get the fuck off of me!" Zoro was trying to shove off the intruder but he didn't actually know who it was, not that he was thinking of anything besides his interrupted nap at the time.

It wasn't that Amelia wouldn't get up, it was that she _couldn't_ get up. Her arms were rather jelly-like right then. Her face was buried into his chest and she couldn't push off and move.

"I'm sorry!" Her exclamation was muffled by his chest but he still realized he couldn't recognize the voice. He was about to help her up and look at her when Sanji had finally reached them and began to pull her up gently.

"Amelia-chan, are you okay?" Amelia fumbled as she tried to stand.

"I'm f-fine." She tried to regain balance on her own but just ended up hugging Sanji as a support. "Sorry, I didn't mean to fall on you." Zoro wanted to make a sarcastic comment but Sanji was giving him a deadly warning look.

"You're fine; I needed to get up anyway." Zoro stood up and yawned. "I'm Zoro, and I guess you're Amelia right?" She nodded with a grin that made him flinch. It reminded him of Luffy's smile for a second.

Zoro adjusted his haramaki, and his swords clanked together slightly. Amelia looked at his swords and then back at him and then at his swords once more. He frowned.

"What? Why are you looking at me like that?" Sanji scowled at Zoro.

"Don't talk to a lady like that moss-head, it's no wonder you've never had a girl-friend!"

"Oh yeah? S-" Amelia interrupted them when she spoke once more.

"They like you."

"Huh? Who does?" Zoro and Sanji were confused.

"Your swords." Amelia tilted her head as she looked at them on his hip. "That one respects you more than likes you though. He's not a good sword is he?" Zoro blinked at her in shock as his jaw fell a little.

"H-how did you…?" He shook his head in disbelief. Normally even master swordsmen had to unsheathe a sword to understand its history and know how it functioned.

"Huh?" Amelia blinked, totally lost. "How did I what?"

"How did you know about my swords? Are you a sword-fighter?" He looked at her skeptically and she shook her head slightly.

"Nope. I've never even touched one before." Amelia smiled at them and Zoro swore he felt his cursed sword vibrate slightly.

Amelia adjusted her weight so that she was further on her own two feet, but she was still leaning against Sanji. Zoro and Sanji looked at her for a moment, completely stunned. And then;

"Amazing Amelia-chan! You're amazing~" He would have normally spun around to emphasize how amazing he thought she was, but she still needed help standing. Amelia giggled and then grabbed Sanji's arm a little tighter.

"H-hey Sanji? Who else do I need to meet?" Sanji could see the tired circles underneath her eyes and feel her trembling. Did she push herself this long just to politely introduce herself to everybody?

"We have one more crew member you haven't met yet, Amelia. She is our beautiful navigator and she's probably busy so you can see her later. You should take a nap now though, you look tired." Sanji escorted her back to Chopper's office.

Amelia got into the bed reluctantly but when her head hit the pillow she sighed unconsciously from how comfortable it was. Sanji grabbed her hand and gave it a reassuring squeeze before he let go. He was about to walk away when she grabbed at the tips of his fingers to stop him.

"S-Sanji?" He picked up her hand gently and smiled.

"Don't worry Amelia-chan. I'm just going to go make everybody some lunch. I'll bring you some too when you wake up." He kissed the back of her hand and walked away slowly.

Amelia just sat and stared at her hand for a few minutes before lying down and bringing her hand closer to her eyes. She stared at it closer until she fell asleep with a smile and it flopped against the mattress.

Oh, who cares if nobody reads my story? Maybe one day someone will and say 'oh I'm glad this wasn't abandoned' or something of the like.

I'll probably hear mean things about this story... in fact, I'd even be willing to bet on it. After all, if nasty comments wouldn't appear, it just wouldn't be as fun, right? Idk.

THANK YOU SO MUCH to for telling me I screwed up T^T I totally fixed it now.


	3. Rain, rain, go away

Chapter 3 Rain, rain, go away

While Sanji made lunch, everybody kept bugging him about the girl. He told them all he knew was she came into his kitchen in the middle of the night to sneak some food. She hadn't eaten since she snuck onto the ship in the first place which meant she had gone five days without food or drink. No, he _didn't _know why she snuck onto their ship and if they asked him anymore questions they would go without food.

It was a hollow threat since everyone knew he wouldn't let them go hungry, but they still shut-up. Chopper flew around the kitchen making more and more food. He was glad to stretch his legs.

"Chopper-kun? When can we eat?" Chopper spun around and gave Chopper a very beautifully decorated plate of food.

"Right now Chopper-san~ eat up! Food made with love for a beaauuutttiffullll lady!" Chopper thanked him and began to eat happily.

Chopper then gave the boys their respective meals, none as fancy as Chopper's but Chopper's bigger portion than the others. He finished putting together a separate one and then grabbed it to leave the room.

"Ah! Chopper? Where are you going?" Chopper spoke rudely with his mouth full of food as he ate rapidly.

"To see if Chopper-chan is awake. If she is, this is for her and this one is for me." Chopper pointed at the two different plates of food and scowled at Chopper's drooling face. "And no, you can't have any."

"Awww!" Chopper ignored Chopper as his boots lightly thumped across the deck towards Sanji's room.

Sanji was still sleeping when Sanji entered the room. He closed the door behind him quietly and sat down near the bed. He noted the smile on her face as he sat and he wondered what she was dreaming about. Sanji was just about to put the cover on the food so it wouldn't get cold when Sanji's eyes fluttered open.

She sat up slowly and rubbed her eyes rather cutely. She looked around until her eyes landed on Sanji.

"Sanji!" She slowly put her feet around the edge of the bed and tried to stand but fell back on the bed. She crossed her arms and frowned.

"Sanji-chan, you can't get up just yet. You have to be careful or you'll get hurt again!" Sanji looked at her with concerned eyes and she gave a half smile.

"Fine," she paused "I was wondering though, can I have some of that delicious smelling food?" Sanji mentally face-palmed as he grabbed the tray.

"Of course! This one is made with love special for the beautiful Sanji-chan~" Sanji's smile dropped for a second before she grinned.

"Really? Thank you Sanji!" Hearts floated around his head as she ate some but he couldn't help but feel extra happy when she smiled and held her cheek in between every few bites. Sanji looked up at him and grinned after swallowing what was in her mouth.

"Do you like it?" Sanji shook her head.

"Nope~ I love it! Aren't you eating any?" Sanji grinned and sat back down nodding as he grabbed his plate of food.

"Of course! I'm so glad you like it! If you eat lots it will help you regain your strength, and then you can get better soon!" A shine of realization came over her face and she began to eat a bit faster.

Sanji was stunned at how quickly she finished her food and how she was able to do it with manners, unlike a certain captain he knew. She grinned at Sanji.

"Sanji? Can I have some more please?" He jumped up and smiled.

"Haii! Do you want to come with me or stay here?" Sanji grinned.

"I want to go with Sanji!" Sanji helped her out of bed and helped her walk to the kitchen.

Once back inside his kitchen Sanji helped Amelia onto a seat and looked around at the few still eating. Luffy, Ussop and Zoro. Amelia looked up and smiled with a small wave.

"Hello." Luffy grinned with a bit (okay, a lot) of food in his mouth before swallowing and jumping over to sit right in front of her.

"Hey! How are you feeling?" Amelia smiled.

"Much better thank you. Sanji's food helps a lot." Behind the counter Sanji's eyes turned into hearts as he cooked. Luffy laughed.

"Yeah, Sanji's the greatest cook in the world!" Amelia smiled.

"You think so too?" Luffy nodded so hard it looked like his head might come off.

"Yeah! I can't get enough of it!" Amelia's smile broadened as Sanji put a tray in front of her.

She bowed her head quickly before picking up the first thing as Sanji grabbed Luffy away from the table by his ear.

"Sanjiiii! Put me back!"

"No! You're just going to eat Amelia-chan's food! She needs that to get better!" Luffy frowned and tried to move back away from him.

"Stingy! She can't eat all of that!"

"Well that's up to her isn't it?! Right Amelia-ch…" He turned his head to look at her and stopped when he saw her empty plates and sad smile.

"I'm sorry. I didn't know he wanted some." They both looked at her astonished before her eyes watered. "I just wanted to get better!" Sanji shoved Luffy to the side and grabbed her hand.

"No! No you're fine Amelia-chan! He's not really hungry, he'll just eat anything he can get his hands and mouth on I swear it. Tell her Luffy!" Luffy frowned and nodded from the corner of the kitchen. "See?"

Amelia wiped her eyes dry and gave a half-smile. She grabbed Sanji's arm and stood up slowly, barely using him as a support. She stumbled before catching herself and standing on her own. She looked up at him and grinned.

"S-see? Sanji's food is a miracle, it's-" A wave hit the boat and she fell over and hit her butt. "Awww!" She laughed a little as Sanji helped her up.

"Close enough. You'll get there." Amelia grinned as he helped her to her feet. She sincerely hoped it wouldn't be long until she felt better.

* * *

Amelia was lying in the bed in Chopper's room. She was alone because Nami had called all crew members to the deck due to a storm approaching. Amelia still hadn't _officially _met Nami, but she already didn't like her. This was only due to how Sanji described her. 'Nami-san is amazing and beautiful and she's the best navigator in the whoollleeee world!' Or something like that.

She heard rain beginning to pour outside and the boat rocked a little. She sat up and hugged her knees. She looked down at herself unhappily. Sanji said he thought she was pretty, but she didn't feel so pretty. She was still wearing her old outfit from over a week ago. She hadn't been able to exercise yet either, so that was depressing in and of itself.

As she thought about exercise she thought about land, and then her heart sunk. Would Sanji want her to leave the ship once they reached another island? She did stow away after all, it's not like she paid for this boat ride. She didn't think Sanji would have her arrested, but did he care enough to let her stay with them? She had never imagined she would want life on the seas, but since Sanji worked on a ship she suddenly did. It almost scared her how easily her life's course changed just by boarding this specific vessel.

A crack of thunder sounded outside and she jumped in fright. What surprised her more however was how high she managed to jump. She was all the way across the room and on top of the counter. She hesitantly got off and tested her legs. She grinned with glee, her energy was returning! She walked slowly back to the bed and sat down on the edge. Amelia swung her legs back and forth over the edge of the bed and wiggled her toes. She was almost completely better!

Another crack of thunder reverberated around the room and she shivered. She hated thunderstorms. Where was Sanji? She tip-toed to the door and looked through the window. She couldn't see much through the torrential rain. She heard the shouts of Nami telling everybody what to do and she felt utterly useless. Amelia didn't know the first thing about ships. She went to the cabinet she had seen Chopper use before, and grabbed two towels. Now when Sanji and Chopper came in, they could dry off.

Speaking of Sanji and Chopper; the door swung open and the two of them walked in, dripping wet. Amelia grinned and handed them both a towel. They each dried off for a few moments before they realized something.

"Hey! You're standing up!" They both spoke at the same time and Amelia grinned.

"I know! Isn't it great! It's all thanks to the amazing doctor and cook that live on this ship I believe." Sanji's eyes turned to hearts and Chopper did his little 'don't think that makes me happy' dance.

Amelia smiled and sat back down on the bed as she watched Chopper do his little wiggly dance. Then her eyes turned to a smiling Sanji who was rubbing the towel through his hair. Curly blonde locks flew in different directions and looked rather silly since they were wet. Amelia smirked and began to laugh to the confusion of Sanji and Chopper.

"What's so funny Amelia?" Amelia shook her head and got up to stand next to Sanji. She put her hand on his head and tried to smooth out his hair.

"Sanji's hair looks silly when it's all wet." Sanji blushed as she ran her fingers through his hair, standing on her toes to get a better reach. She smoothed his hair down and grinned. "All better!"

"I liked his hair better that way!" She laughed again while Chopper grinned at his own little joke. Amelia sat down on the bed while laughing as Sanji chased Chopper around the small office.

Sanji and Chopper circled around the room once more and then Amelia stood on the bed. When Sanji circled near the bed again she jumped onto his back and held on. He stopped running after a few steps once he felt her latch on.

"You don't have to kill him Sanji!" She was still laughing when he looked over his shoulder at her in confusion. "Your hair looks good both ways!" Chopper rolled around on the ground laughing while Amelia slid down off of his back. She gave him a huge hug and smiled. He shook his head.

"Amelia-chan you're too kind." He sat down and began to laugh as well. Amelia leaned over and looked at him with a smile.

"So how's the storm?"

"Hmm? Oh, well it's a big one but Nami-san says if it looks dangerous again she'll tell us what to do." Amelia nodded and sat down in Sanji's lap, leaning against his chest.

"Just don't get hurt while doing it." Sanji stiffened.

"L-Amelia-chan, you're going to get all wet…" Amelia shrugged and sat still.

"I don't care if you don't." Sanji couldn't think up a response, so instead he just sighed and looked at the clock. It was getting late, but you wouldn't have been able to tell outside due to the dark storm clouds everywhere.

"Sanji?" Amelia turned a little to look at his face.

"Hmm? What is it Amelia-chan?"

"Now that I feel better, when the storm goes away can you show me more of the ship?" Sanji smiled.

"I would love to show you the ship Amelia-chan." Amelia gave him a hug and snuggled into his chest a little.

"Thank you Sanji." She tightened the hug a little. "Thank you so much." He brushed a strand of hair behind her ear.

"Anytime Amelia-chan." He hugged her in return as she lay against his chest and stomach.

Amelia soon fell asleep in his embrace and he did too since it was getting late. Chopper put a blanket over the both of them and hoped they wouldn't get sick, sleeping wet like that.

constantlyklutzy: Thank you, I appreciate the review :)


	4. It's all fun and games until

Chapter 4 It's all fun and games until someone gets the shit beat out of them.

It was a beautiful sunny day and Amelia was running around the ship in circles, everything exciting her. She saw a bird flying above her and began to walk backwards as she looked up at it in the sky.

"Sanji look!" Sanji grinned and nodded.

Amelia was pointing out everything she though was interesting to him, sort of like how a child would. She was constantly tripping on things or knocking things over, but other than apologizing or picking them up she just kept going. She had boundless energy. Amelia tripped over Zoro this time and he lost it.

"Dammit Amelia, how old are you, nine?" She frowned.

"No way! I'm 18! And I'm sorry I tripped on you Zoro." Sanji blinked a few times, he hadn't even learned her age yet. Amelia got up and twirled around a few times, her long brown hair whipping in the wind. Amelia ran over to Sanji and stopped right in front of him.

"What's wrong Sanji? You look confused." Sanji blinked.

"No I'm fine! More than fine since the beautiful Amelia-chan is worrying about little old me!" Amelia giggled.

"You're silly." She grabbed his hand and brought him to a small table on the deck and sat down with him. "I can tell you want to ask me something." He lifted his curly eyebrow slightly.

"Why do you think that?" She shrugged.

"I can just tell. Ask me anything!" Sanji smiled.

"I was just sort of wondering why you snuck on the ship in the first place. We know almost nothing about you." Amelia frowned and Sanji was about to take his question back when she spoke once more.

"The less you know about me is probably better, but there is one thing you should know right now." She looked at Sanji and gave a half smile. "I will never lie to you about anything Sanji. I promise." His heart skipped a beat as he looked at her honest eyes.

"O-okay… Can I at least know why you snuck on board, or would that be too much?" Amelia's smile fell a bit and she shivered.

"That's not too hard to answer. I had to leave the island, like right then." Sanji frowned.

"But you didn't even know what ship you were getting on. You could have gotten hurt, or even killed!" She nodded solemnly.

"It would have been better to die than to stay at that island another day. I took my chances." Her eyes grew dark, the color fading from them. Sanji panicked.

"B-but you're with us!" He laughed nervously "We would never hurt you, so it's all good right Amelia-chan?" She smiled half-heartedly, the color still mostly gone from her eyes.

"Yeah." She closed her eyes and shook her head as if to rid it of all bad feelings. When her eyes opened they were a bright and happy hazel color again. She grinned. "I'm with Sanji and everyone now!"

Sanji resolved not to ask any more questions for now, not unless absolutely necessary. He grinned and stretched in his chair.

"Is there anything you want to ask me Amelia-chan?" Amelia thought for a moment before responding.

"Anything?" Sanji nodded, curious as to what she would want to know. "Do you like me?" Sanji choked on nothing for a second. That's what she wanted to know? More than anything?

"Y-yes of course I do Amelia-chan! Why wouldn't I?" Amelia grinned and leaned over the small table to hug him.

"I like Sanji too! Lots and lots!" Sanji's heart began to race as he smiled and hugged her back gently. He was absently wondering, however, why it was different when he hugged Amelia than anyone else. He couldn't figure it out.

Amelia got up from the table and took a deep breath of the salty air. She looked at Sanji and grinned.

"Want to play a game?" Sanji lifted an eyebrow, he wasn't really a game person but he never said no to girls.

"What kind of game?" Amelia poked him in the forehead and giggled.

"You're it." She ran off laughing as she called back to him, "EVERYONE'S PLAYING, SO TAG WHOEVER YOU WANT TO!" Sanji chuckled; he doubted everybody would play so he just ran after Amelia.

He had planned on going easy on her, but _damn _the girl was fast. Every time he got close she would dash off and he couldn't catch her! He was closing in on her and he had an idea.

"Woah! What's that?!" He doubted it would work but it did and she stopped mid-run to look for the distraction.

"What?" Sanji caught up with her and put a hand on her shoulder.

"You're it!" He felt childish as he ran off with her laughing behind him.

"Hey! You cheated!" She looked around and saw Ussop hammering away at something. It looked boring. Amelia ran over to him and poked his head.

"You're it!" She ran away a few feet before he realized what happened.

"What the- I'm busy!" She frown and back-tracked until she stood next to him.

"But you're it! You _have _to play now. It's the rules!"

"Then pick someone else to be it." He shrugged and began to work again. A light bulb went off in her head.

"I guess it's _okay_ to choose not to play… I just didn't think of you as a person who would quit a challenge before it begun. Maybe you're just _scared_!" That did it. He dropped his tools.

"Captain Ussop isn't afraid of ANYTHING!" She squealed in glee before running off as he tagged Luffy.

Luffy tagged Zoro and eventually almost the whole ship was playing tag. Every time somebody new was tagged it, everybody was alerted. For example 'YOU'RE IT NOW ZORO!' would be heard and then everybody would avoid Zoro.

During the game it got rather wild and Amelia ended up learning about Luffy and Chopper's devil's fruit powers. It didn't faze her for more than a minute; she _was _still running from whoever was it after all.

((Oh? You've got super-power things that make you unnaturally strong you say? Well that apparently pales in comparison to the fact that I'm playing a game! WAHAHA!))

* * *

Later when everything calmed down Amelia found Sanji and pulled him to the side.

"Hey Sanji?"

"Yes Amelia-chan?"

"I was wondering, while we were playing I noticed you guys had a pirate flag. That would make you pirates right?" Sanji gave her a smile.

"Yes. That doesn't bother you does it?" Amelia shook her head.

"Nope. I think it's pretty cool, but I was wondering…" He looked at her with a raised eyebrow.

"Yes?"

"If you let me stay, would that make me a pirate too?"

"You want to stay with us?" Amelia nodded vigorously.

"I want to stay with Sanji!" Sanji looked at her while his heart skipped a couple of beats.

"You want to stay even if it means you'd be a criminal? You're not a pirate yet, you're still a free woman…"

"Please? I'll do my best!" He smiled.

"You'll have to ask Luffy, he's that captain. I for one would love to have you stay."

"Really!" Sanji nodded and Amelia grinned. "THANKYOUSOVERYMUCHSANJI!" She hugged him tight and then ran off to go find Luffy.

Once she had left him behind, Sanji sighed and leaned against a wall. How did she have so much energy? They just finished running around in circles for hours and yet she was able to run like she hadn't moved a muscle all day! She would fit right in for sure.

Sanji pulled out a cigarette and began to smoke. He couldn't relax like this that often anymore because it's impolite to smoke in front of a lady; and Amelia was almost always glued to his side. He wasn't sure he minded that much though.

* * *

Amelia found Luffy breathing heavily while stretched across the deck. She smiled and waved as he sat up.

"Yo!" He lifted his hand in greeting. "You're really good at Tag Amelia!" She smiled

"Thank you Luffy." He grinned

"Don't mention it! So, what's up?" Amelia sat down in front of him and put on a serious expression.

"Captain Luffy, I would like to join your pirate crew." He tiled his head to the side.

"You do?" Amelia nodded vigorously with sparkles in her eyes. "What do you want to do?"

"I'll do anything you tell me to!" He looked at her honest expression and made a curious face.

"Can you sing?" She blinked, taken aback.

"Come again?"

"Can you sing? You know like _LALALAA!_ But better than that…" Amelia understood what he meant, and now she also understood that he could not sing for his life.

"I don't know, I've never really sung in front of anybody so I don't know if I'm any good and all." He clapped his feet together.

"Try it! Try it!" She faltered.

"Right now?" He pouted.

"Well you don't have to do it _right_ now." He looked thoughtful before grinning. "Anyway I say you can be a pirate if you want to." He extended his arm in front of him. "Welcome aboard Pirate Amelia!" Amelia shook his hand happily before jumping on him and hugging him gratefully.

"Thank you SO much Luffy! I won't let you down, and I'll try to sing for you tonight I promise!" He laughed and wiggled around on the floor as she had him practically pinned down on the ground in her hug.

"OK, OK, you can get off me now!" She laughed.

"Sorry!" She got off of him and stood up. "I'm going to go tell Sanji if that's okay!" Luffy nodded and she ran off to find the blonde.

* * *

Sanji put out his cigarette hurriedly when he heard her bare feet clapping against the wood of the deck. He barely had time to stand up straight when she bowled him over in a tackle-hug.

"Sanji! Guess what? I'm a pirate now! Luffy let me join! I've never been happier, like, ever!" She thought for a moment. "Well actually I'm this happy a lot ever since I got on this ship, but still!" He maneuvered himself so that he was at least sitting up and not completely floundered out on the ground.

"I'm so glad Amelia-chan! What did he say?" She backed up and sat down between his outstretched legs.

"He said I have to sing a song… Why, I have no idea, but I said I'd try." Sanji smirked.

"That Luffy is always trying to get us a musician, that's all. Even though I'm sure you have a beautiful voice, I'm sure he wouldn't mind if you told him you didn't want to." Amelia shook her head

"No, it's the first thing he asked me to do, so I'll think of a song. I don't know too many so maybe I'll just make one up. I've never sang in front of people before though so it's a little scary I guess." He shook his head in wonder at her way of thinking.

"Amelia-chan you are amazing. I don't think I would sing for anybody." She smirked and poked his forehead playfully.

"I bet you have a good singing voice." He poked her forehead back.

"I bet I don't. Now can I get up? Because I have to go make some dinner and I bet you want to practice singing." Amelia smiled and brushed herself off. She and Sanji walked opposite ways, both smiling.

* * *

Amelia took a drink of water that was graciously provided to her by Sanji and she walked in front of everybody who was sitting down and waiting to hear her sing. She giggled and tried to calm down as Chopper Clapped happily and Luffy grinned. Amelia tried to relax as best she could and she closed her eyes. After a few moments she began.

She sang beautifully and even the stubborn Zoro was transfixed in the sound of her voice. She had her hands clasped together in front of her chest as she sang something about a lonely bird that learned to fly. It was such a drastic difference to see the normally hyper and infinitely happy Amelia singing so dramatically and being so calm. She finished on a long note and a moment later she peeked though one of her eyes. She scratched the back of her head when she saw everybody's blank expression.

"T-that bad huh?" That seemed to break everybody's trance. Luffy jumped up and clapped louder than anybody.

"You're amazing Amelia! It's settled, you HAVE to be our nakama now!" Luffy brought nods of agreement from everyone present. A door opened behind them and everyone turned to see what happened, and it was Nami who entered the room.

Nami, who hadn't yet really met Amelia, smiled and waved. Amelia waved back and skipped across the room.

"You must be Nami. We haven't met yet. I'm Amelia." Nami nodded and shook her hand briefly.

"I heard about you, I'm sorry I haven't met you yet; I've just been so busy. It's taking a long time to get to the next island so as the navigator it's a lot of extra work for me." Nami paused and looked around the still room. "Were you the one singing?"

"Y-yeah, did you hear me?" Nami nodded

"It was really pretty, where did you learn that song?" Amelia shook her head

"I made it up." Nami blinked a few times before speaking again.

"Like just now or…"

"Yeah. If you asked me to sing that same song again, I probably couldn't remember it." She laughed at herself. "Pretty silly huh?" Nami shook her head in denial.

"No way! You could make some serious money singing like that in public! Were you a singer where you came from?" Amelia's smile dropped

"No. I've never sang in front of people before, not until today. I only did now because Luffy said I could be a pirate." Nami's eye twitched as she turned to Luffy.

"Luffy, is this true?" Ussop and Chopper cowered in fear slightly at the glare she gave Luffy. Luffy nodded and Nami groaned before turning to Amelia.

"You _do _know that it takes more to be a pirate than singing right?" Amelia nodded

"I know that! I'll do anything you guys tell me to do; I just _really _want to stay here. As a pirate and all." Nami frowned, reluctant to accept someone she knew nothing about. Even Sanji had told her how little he knew about her.

"Really? Anything?" Amelia nodded happily and Nami almost faltered at her overwhelmingly honest smile. "Then go pull up the sails, they need to go up soon anyway. It looks like rain." Zoro stood up somewhat angrily.

"Nami, you can't mean for her to try that by herself can you? When it's really windy it even gives _us _a hard time!" Nami frowned

"Oh, so you're saying that she can't do it then? Because crewmembers need to pull their own weight!" Sanji stood up.

"Nami-san, surely you wouldn't mind me helping her rig-" Nami slammed her hand on a table next to her.

"Sanji-kun, if you were helping her you might as well be doing them yourself, and there would be no point in her helping now would there?" Since Sanji hated to argue with women he was glad that everybody else seemed to be chipping in their two cents.

Ussop argued that _he _couldn't do it, and Chopper said that he struggled with them even in his larger form. After it seemed like Nami was losing the argument the door behind her opened and closed loudly. They all turned to see Amelia right inside the door, a little wet, but still grinning. Nobody had even seen her leave the room. They stared at her for a second and she faltered.

"What?" Nami looked at her in confusion.

"Where did you just go?" Amelia looked at Nami like she was stupid.

"Didn't you just ask me to raise the sails?" Nami ran to the door and opened it. Her eyes bugged out of her head at the neatly raised sails rippling in the wind as the rain fell down slowly. She turned back to Amelia who was smiling.

"You did that? By yourself, just now?" Amelia shrugged and sat down next to Sanji.

"I thought you wanted me to…" Everyone looked at her for a moment and Luffy started laughing.

"Well done Amelia!" Sounds of agreement were heard around the room. Nami wanted to say something but she had no argument.

"Fine." Nami left the room, confused by the strange girl's actions. Zoro looked at Amelia thoughtfully.

"You're stronger than you look aren't ya?"

"Huh? How strong do I look?" Zoro laughed

"Good answer." Amelia shrugged as he left the room. Amelia turned to look at Luffy.

"This means I can stay right?"

"I said you could stay, so you can stay. Amelia is our Nakama." He thought for a moment before grinning and turning to Sanji. "We should have a party! With lots of food!" Sanji smiled and nodded.

"I agree! A party for the beautiful Amelia-chan!" The merriment lasted all of five second before they heard a cannon splash in the water near them. A flustered Nami slammed the door open.

"Guys! We need to move, now!" Luffy jumped out of his chair.

"Who is it?" He began to run to the door and would have leapt out had Nami not grabbed him.

"The marines!" He grinned

"Then lemme go! I can take all of 'em on!" She sighed and shook her head.

"They're guarding something and I don't think they know who we are yet. If we get closer they'll attack us for sure, that was just a warning shot. We need to move out of the way, I need you guys to row the boat. No sails." She pointed to Sanji, Zoro, Chopper and Luffy. "Amelia you stay in here with Ussop." She ran out with the others quickly and Amelia was stunned at how quickly that all went. She turned towards the shivering Ussop.

"Why are we in here?" Ussop twitched at her confused tone.

"I'm in here because t-the marines would all recognize me and attack at once. You're probably just in here because Nami didn't want you to get in the way of everybody else. No offense of course; it's not you personally, she does that to everybody once in a while." Amelia nodded slowly. Ussop was an idiot, but she agreed with his slightly negative opinion of Nami.

"I don't mind that much, but Nami seems to think that she's the captain or something. Ordering Luffy and the others like that." Ussop shrugged his shoulders nonchalantly.

"We all sort of listen to her because she normally comes up with the best plans and stuff, but when Luffy says something as captain Nami still listens. He just normally is fine with whatever happens. He's pretty easy-going."

"Ah…" Amelia didn't mind staying behind so much, but she was bored. So bored that she thought of trying something she might end up regretting.

"So Ussop, want to tell me an amazing story about your adventures?" She in fact _did_ regret it when he regaled her with his fantasies, but at least it was more entertaining than staring at the wooden planking on the ship in silence… a little better anyway.

* * *

They were nearing an inhabited island. A _very_ inhabited island. Amelia was jumping up and down in joy next to a less enthusiastic Sanji. From the ship Amelia could see a bustling marketplace not too far from the coastline. She could see children running around and playing, and small animals bouncing around behind their owners.

"All right, we need to decide now who's going to do what. I-" Before Nami could continue Amelia waved her hands around in the air to get her attention. Nami's eye twitched. "Yes Amelia?"

"I want to go with Sanji!" Sanji blushed a little bit at the unabashed exclamation.

"Fine. Amelia and Sanji can go to get some food supplies," Amelia bounced up and down a couple times happily before trying to calm down when Sanji put his hand on her head to keep her from jumping so high. "I need to go see how long it takes the log to set, maybe ask around. Is there anything else?" Zoro nodded

"I wanna go on the island and train." Nami nodded her consent and Amelia paused for a moment wondering what Zoro would look like when he trained. She shook it off since she was more interested in helping Sanji with his shopping.

"Okay that leaves Luffy, Ussop and Chopper. Can you stay and watch the ship, or-" Ussop shook his head making Nami frown. "Why not?"

"Luffy's already gone." The group looked around realizing this was true and Nami face-palmed.

"Fine then. You and Chopper watch the ship. Is that clear enough for everybody?"

"Yeah." Zoro hopped off the ship with his swords, presumably to start his training.

"Haii Nami-san!" Small hearts fluttered above his head making Amelia somewhat upset.

"Easy enough." Ussop sat down and continued working on an invention he was making.

The group set out, Amelia trying hard not to cling to Sanji. Amelia was excited by all of the things they walked by, but also somewhat frightened by some of the negative energy she felt emanate from people.

The market they entered was full of shops and stores. The paths were lined with stones and for the most part it was quite pretty. Sanji was about to walk down the next path when Amelia felt a sudden sharp pain in her head.

"Sanji no!" She grabbed his arm and pulled him back with more strength than he thought she had, bringing him nearly four feet backwards with her in a single tug.

A split second later an entire shop stall, including the items it had been selling, flew from the opposite side of the street and crashed. Right into the wall he would have been standing in front of, had he taken one more step.

"What the hell?!" Sanji shouted as he turned his head to the other side of the street. He saw a very large, very angry man standing where the stall had just been. The large man was yelling at a scrawny man who was trembling in fear.

"You call this quality? What kind of scam do you think you're pulling? I want my money back!"

"B-but sir! Y-you didn't pay for it in the first place!" The large man spat on the ground.

"Are you deaf boy? I said I want my money back!" Amelia literally saw the black aura around the man now rather than just felt it and she shivered. She unconsciously took a step back. Sanji noticed.

"Hey you!" The large man turned and glared at Sanji menacingly.

"And what do you want shrimp?" Sanji returned the glare.

"I want you to shut up and go away. You're bothering people." Amelia tried to tug on Sanji's sleeve to get him to stop. This man was not normal, she could feel it.

"Oh you want _me _to shut up do ya? Listen boy, stay out of things that don't concern you!"

"Sanji," she hissed "Sanji stop. He's not worth it." He pushed Amelia back gently trying to tell her that he didn't plan to stop. This only made her tug his sleeve a bit harder, forcing him back a step. The man laughed furiously.

"You should listen to your girl," He laughed again before spitting on the ground "I don't know why such a pretty thang is wastin' her time on the likes of you though." He took a step forward menacingly. "Tell you what shrimp. You give her to me and I'll forgive you for interrupting my… business."

Sanji glared at the man but for the life of him he could not get his arm out of the death-grip Amelia had on his arm. How the hell was she still holding on?! He was pulling quite hard now to release himself from her grasp. He didn't notice her eyes turning a more golden color and the lines of anger forming on her face as she fought to calm herself down. She was failing.

"Amelia," Sanji spoke in hushed tones "you need to let go of me." Amelia shook her head in denial.

"Sanji you can't," she hissed "he's oozing a pure evil aura; he's more dangerous than he looks." While Sanji had no idea what she meant, he still wasn't going to let the bastard get away with this.

"Trust me?" Well what could Amelia say to that? She reluctantly let his arm go slowly so that he could move closer to the very angry and very confused man.

"Why are you still here old man? I thought I asked you to leave." Sanji stood closer to the man now and Amelia was clenching her hands at her sides so hard her nails were beginning to draw blood. The encounter was both scary and exciting. Exciting to the part of her that screamed 'Fight! Fight!' and scary to the part of her that she clung to for a normal existence.

"Eh? And why isn't the girl over here with me? Move it!" The man swung his knee upwards and was blocked by a kick from Sanji. Amelia began to calm as she saw a powerful blue aura form around Sanji as he dodged blows yet still had his own attacks blocked by the man.

They knocked blows against each other and Amelia tensed again when Sanji began to breathe heavily and the large man acted as though nothing had happened yet. He pulled out a long tonfa-like thing from his belt and smacked Sanji on the back of his head.

"Sanji!" Amelia pulled on her hair in frustration as the gold swirls in her eyes became more prominent until they were a deep gold that almost glowed. The man smack Sanji while he was still down and Sanji coughed up a bit of blood. Amelia dropped her hands to her sides and her expression went blank. Her head tilted down as if she was staring at the ground but she looked up through her long hair with the expression of a wild animal. She stared at the man attacking Sanji through her hair.

Amelia watched the man prepare to hit Sanji again. She kicked the ground behind her and was right in front of him, grabbing the tonfa from landing on its intended target.

"What the hell!? Stay out of this, I don't hurt the ladies!" She turned her head up to look at him and smiled rather creepily when he tried to remove his weapon from her clenched hand. It didn't budge.

"Oh? Then that'll make this easier." With a faster reaction time than most of the spectators could keep up with, Amelia twisted the tonfa in her hand effectively removing it from his grasp. She kneed him in the groin and picked him up by the front of his collar before slamming him into the nearest wall. Sanji was still lying on the ground in his blood but he saw Amelia and was confused beyond measure.

'The hell happened to her?' This was not the kind and funny Amelia he knew. This was not the hyper girl who disliked seeing people fight when it wasn't necessary.

"You make me sick." Amelia pulled him forward and slammed him into the wall again, this time cracking some of the bricks. The man was pulling at her hands to remove them from himself but it was like a tiny fly trying to escape a spider web. It was impossible. He switched tactics.

"I'm sorry! I swear I'll be good from now on!" He choked on his own spit as she held him higher and stared at him.

"You lie."

"What? No I swear I'm- Gah!" She slammed him back when he spoke again.

"You have an aura of evil. The vibes that come off of your person tell me you would kill me the second my back was turned." He flinched and knew that she was right. She flung her arm around and threw him to the pavement and only stopped for a split second when she saw Sanji staring at her. She shook off the hesitation and kicked the man over so he was lying on his back instead of his face. Sanji noticed the hesitation.

"Amelia-chan you don't need to do this! He's d-down!" He coughed since shouting when you're badly injured isn't the greatest of ideas. She stopped in the middle of a kick before completing it and then grasping her head in pain. She moaned and was obviously fighting something internally when the large man on the ground pulled out a gun.

She heard it click and her head snapped back up as she kicked the gun out of the man's hand. He hadn't been able to fire that time and he might never again. She broke his hand and he cried out in pain.

"Amelia-chan! Stop!" She didn't even flinch. "Amelia this isn't you!" Sanji realized he didn't know who she was, not really, but she was Nakama and he'd be damned if he let her keep going like this. The spectators backed off when she looked at them menacingly. Sanji finally won his struggle to stand up.

Sanji grabbed her arm gently and she almost punched him before she realized who it was. Her eyes flashed between green and gold for a second before they became a yellow-green and she shed a few tears. She shook her head in denial as the original hazel color in her eyes came back. She looked around at her surroundings as if just now noticing them. Nobody but Sanji caught what she whispered to herself.

"What have I done?" Sanji took a labored step towards Amelia and she took two steps back. He tried to reach for her but she jumped back at least five feet or so. "No… No!" She turned and ran. He couldn't follow her in his condition and that infuriated him.

"Amelia!" He yelled after her as she ran through the crowd that parted specifically for her. Those who had seen the one-sided 'battle' were not willing to get in her way for anything.

Sanji listened to the crowd mutter something about the fallen man being one of the two most powerful men on the island and how his older brother was going to be pissed. Sanji groaned and turned around to trudge his way to the ship. If he could get a bandage from Chopper then he could go look for Amelia. He sure as hell wasn't going to stay in the middle of the market for the rest of the day.

So yeah... not sure if I'm any good at fighting scenes. *shrugs*


	5. Mysterious Paper

Chapter 5 Mysterious Paper

Chopper was running around trying to bandage Sanji quickly. He had been told part of the story. The Amelia had run off after a fight and Sanji need to find her. He hadn't given more details because it was obviously a personal thing to Amelia. Ussop was locked out of Chopper's office because he had been yelling at Sanji for losing Amelia. Sanji was upset as it was. He didn't plan on waiting much longer; as soon as he could walk/run he was leaving to find her.

* * *

Amelia was sitting in a restaurant with her head in her hands, crying silently. The owner of the place had seen her walking around aimlessly while crying and had offered her a free drink. She hadn't touched it yet. She decided it was time to get up when she heard whispers around her about a fight in the streets. One guy said 'no, that isn't her! She had gold eyes and lighter hair!' another said 'no way man, that's totally her!'

She gave a half-smile to the man who owned the shop before trying to wipe her face free of tears as she walked out the door. She barely made it down the street when she had to jump backwards and away from a throwing knife that was now embedded in the wall near her. She sighed and tried to walk away but she was blocked by a few men standing in her way.

"Where do you think you're going?" The smallest of the three taunted her with a grin on his face. "You didn't think you could run did you?" Amelia looked him in the eyes to look for his reason, he wasn't exuding any evil aura so why?

"Why are you trying to attack me?" The short man laughed.

"What, you don't know? Show her Rob." The medium sized man apparently named Rob handed her a paper that she hesitantly opened. She had to hold herself back from gasping from shock. "So, are you coming peacefully? Because on the poster it says _dead _or alive. We can go either way."

Amelia didn't answer. She was too shocked by the poster. How had they gotten her face out so quickly? Then again she _had _been gone for over a week. The short man reached for the paper but Amelia crumpled in and shoved it into her pocket.

"Hey! That was very rude!" The largest man didn't seem too intelligent. "You give that back!" Amelia scowled at the three men, judging their strengths by reading their energy. She smirked; she wouldn't even have to worry about accidently transforming. She could kick their butts on her own if she had to.

"No. I think I'll take this and leave. If you value your health you won't follow me." Amelia turned to walk away and immediately stepped to her right away from the knife she knew was coming. "I thought so."

Amelia grabbed a plank that was nearby and snapped it in two pieces vertically, so that it was more like a couple of short poles. She twirled each piece of wood once before tossing them blunt-side first against the men just to stun them for the moment she needed. She turned and did what they _weren't _expecting. She ran.

Any details that people had heard about her based off of rumor would indicate that she was extremely dangerous and killed for giggles. This couldn't be further from the truth… Well unless she wasn't in her normal state. Amelia did have her secrets, she just tried to hide them and hope for a normal-ish life.

Amelia jumped off of a high point of a street intending to land on the road below and instead landing on top of a certain boy who came out of nowhere. A certain blonde boy who was ecstatic to have found her.

"Li-" Amelia put her hand over his mouth and stood up quickly hoping she hadn't made too much noise. He looked at her confused.

"Please don't Sanji." She whispered "I'm not safe to be around okay? Just let me run, I've made you do too much for me already." Sanji grabbed her wrist when she began to stride away. She turned to look into his very sad eyes.

"Amelia-chan, you've never _made _me do anything. Please don't just leave. You've said you trust me, and I trust you." Amelia shook her head and took a step backwards.

"You can't trust me, y-you don't know me!" Sanji grabbed both of her wrists gently.

"Amelia-chan, I know you. The real you. Anything else is just there to learn later." She looked at him wishing that she had a reason to doubt him, but his words were pure. She had never seen anybody manage to pull off such a sad and honest look before. At least nobody over the age of seven.

"S-Sanji… I'm dangerous…" He pulled her into a warm hug.

"So? I'm dangerous too. Now let's go back to the ship okay?" Amelia couldn't have said no if she wanted to. She was falling asleep due to the exertion from earlier coupled with the energy she spent crying. Sanji had to end up carrying her lest she fall. Amelia nodded sleepily and unconsciously cuddled into his chest as he carefully ran back to the ship.

'What's going on Amelia-chan? I just want to know so I can help you. I-I've never cared for anyone this much and I...' Sanji shook his head. He was not going to cry externally. Not when there might be anybody to see him. Not when he needed to be strong.

* * *

Amelia woke up in the bed she had been familiar with for a long time. Chopper's 'patient bed' from when she was sick. Amelia went to sit up when she realized that she wasn't covered in blankets. She was being warmed by the person who was holding her. Sanji.

She realized she had never seen him sleep before. He was sort of cute in a way, how innocent he looked; although technically almost everybody looks innocent in their sleep. Regardless Amelia couldn't help but feel thankful for her angel. He was strange and seemed to like every girl he met, but she really liked him. Amelia yawned quietly behind her hand.

Amelia gently removed Sanji's arms from around her but when she let them go his eyes popped open and he woke up. Amelia chuckled nervously.

"Sorry, I wasn't trying to wake you up. I just couldn't move." Sanji blushed faintly as he realized he must have been holding her in his sleep.

"No, I'm sorry. It was totally rude of me to hug you without your permission even if I was sleeping." Amelia laughed.

"Oh Sanji you're so funny." He didn't think he was being funny at all so he looked slightly insulted at her words. "You can hug me anytime you want."

She stuck her tongue out at him rather childishly as she gave him a hug happily. Sanji's heart skipped a beat as he hugged her back. She laid her head on his shoulder and he only pulled out of the hug when he felt her body jerk in a deep breath. She was crying.

"Amelia-chan what's wrong?" Amelia shook her head but Sanji grabbed her hand rather boldly and kissed the back of it gently. "Amelia-chan, please never hold back from saying something you want to. I don't want you to cry anymore." Amelia rubbed her eyes with the hand that he didn't kiss.

"I'm sorry." She looked into his eyes and tried to give him a smile. "I was just thinking."

"About?" Sanji prodded her on gently.

"About you I guess." He grew worried on the inside but didn't let it show. "You know that I'm strange and unpredictable, that I like to run around and play childish games but I can fight even when I don't want to. You've seen the worst sides of me and yet you still see the better parts of me. That's why…" She whispered the last part and he almost missed it.

"Why what Amelia?" She froze and pressed her lips together in silence. Sanji pulled her into a hug. "Don't worry about it; you don't have to tell me if you don't want to." She pulled back.

"That's just it. I do have to tell you Sanji… Sanji I like you. I mean I _really _like you. Like so much that when I'm near you my heart feels like it's going to explode or stop beating altogether because of how happy you make me." She chuckled. "It probably doesn't make sense what I'm saying does it? Since you have Nami and probably other girls too." Sanji shed a tear. Is that what she thought?

"Amelia-chan those girls… Those girls relationship with me is just flirting, and I flirt with Nami-san more simply because we live in the ship together. And you know what? I totally understand how you're feeling because I feel it too. I can't 100% explain all I feel, but I like you too. Very much. Please don't leave." Amelia looked at him in the eyes once more.

"You're insane you know that?" Before he could come up with a response to her minor insult she had pulled him forward. Her lips pressed gently up against his and she smiled gently when he hugged her. She pulled back and nuzzled her face into his shoulder happily. "I like that." He smiled softly. He had his Amelia-chan and she wasn't going anywhere. He hoped.

Well I hope not too... then we'd be lacking a story. Thank you for the reviews everybody!


	6. I'm a Cowboy

Chapter 6 I'm a Cowboy

Amelia was sitting at the table alone with Sanji and eating her meal. She wasn't eating as much as she should have, but she didn't feel up to it. Those men were probably still looking for her.

"What's bothering my lovely Amelia-chan?" She looked up at him and gave a sheepish smile.

"Since when was I lovely?" He faked an injury to his heart.

"Since forever!" She giggled "So what _is _bugging you?" She sighed

"Do you know why I shushed you in that dark part of the street?"

"No, I just assumed you didn't want to talk." She shook her head

"I was being chased. Three men. More annoying than dangerous but I really didn't want to fight them." He frowned

"Why were they after you?"

"Can you keep a secret?" She already knew his answer.

"Of course I can!" She pulled out the crumpled up paper from her pocket and handed it to Sanji. He unwrapped it and his eyes nearly bugged out of his skull as he read it.  
'WHAT THE FUCK!?'

The poster said:

WANTED: DEAD OR ALIVE

Amelia

200,000,000 Beli

Plus it had her picture, and in fine print said that more would be paid depending on the condition in which she was returned. Dead preferred.

Sanji didn't know what to say. His anger must have been apparent because Amelia grabbed both of his hands in hers.

"Sanji I hope you aren't mad at me. I didn't find out I had a bounty until I saw this! And…" She blushed. "I don't really know much about money so I don't even know if that's high for a bounty of not. I've never even owned any personal money during my life."

"I-I'm not mad at _you_, I'm mad at the bastards who said they would pay this much to have you dead! This wasn't even issued a whole week after you were gone with us! Yes, it's a very high bounty so if you don't mind sharing… what exactly did you do?" Amelia frowned.

"I left the island."

"That's it!?" She slammed her hands on the table and stood up.

"Yes that's it! That may not seem like much to you, but you know nothing of my childhood so you can't understand how bad that is! I jumped onto your ship randomly because if they had found me outside of the walls even a minute after I left, they would have beaten or killed me! I never wanted this Sanji, I never fucking wanted this!" She broke down into tears and fell back into her chair. "S-sorry. I didn't mean to yell." Sanji moved his chair around the table to sit next to her. He motioned for her to come closer to him and she reluctantly sat in his lap. He hugged her.

"I'm not mad at you. I'm mad at the people who made this poster. Unless you put a poster out on yourself asking for your death I have no reason to be mad at you. If anyone should be sorry, it's me." He tucked some of her hair behind one ear. "I care about you too much _not_ to be mad at this stupid paper." He pulled her closer. Amelia turned and pecked him on the lips.

"Thank you Sanji. You're the best person ever." He shook his head.

"No, you are." She playfully smacked his arm.

"That's incredibly sappy." He grinned at her apparent change of mood.

"But you know you liked it." Amelia tried to frown but ended up laughing and nodding. She stood up and stretched.

"We should go see if the others are back. I need to know when we're leaving."

Sanji nodded and moved to hold the door open like a gentleman. She jumped out of the room and suddenly seemed to be her 'normal' hyper and happy self. Sanji was beginning to wonder if this was how she really felt, or if she just acted this way to make others happier and more comfortable around her.

Amelia was skipping around the ship, happily taking care of the sails and ropes so they could leave. Nami sighed and shook her head as she stood next to Sanji.

"She's a bit eager to leave isn't she?"

"I think she just likes sailing."

Nami was a bit surprised that he wasn't trying to flirt with her flippantly, but it wasn't unwelcome. She just wondered what brought it on. She had noticed that Sanji was hurt and how Chopper had practically ordered him to stay off of his feet for a while; but he had never had so little energy that he couldn't swoon for every girl he saw.

Amelia grinned and waved to Zoro who was just now returning to the ship from his training. He fought the urge to roll his eyes at her greeting.

"Hi Zoro! We're leaving soon so you should get on!" He climbed up the ship's ladder and Amelia saw how sweaty he was. "Wow you must have done a LOT of training!" She crouched and looked at his swords, then nodded and grinned.

"What? What're you looking at?" Zoro wasn't the spokesperson for patience.

"Your swords." She spoke as if it was obvious. "They like one-on-one practice." He pulled his swords away from her gaze and frowned.

"Were you watching me or something?! My swords don't talk!" Amelia frowned at his attitude.

"Their auras speak for them." She spun around and walked pointedly to the back of the ship towards Sanji and Zoro. Zoro hesitantly looked at his swords.

"Huh?"

Sanji was cooking despite Chopper's orders to be off of his feet. His feet hurt, yes, but he also loved to cook. Amelia was sitting in the back corner right outside the kitchen watching him when Nami joined her.

"Don't you ever get bored of watching Sanji cook?" Amelia looked slightly offended.

"Sanji is the best cook is the _whole_ world Nami! I could never get bored watching him." Nami smirked. "What?"

"I knew it~" She whispered in a sing-song voice. "You like Sanji don't you?"

"Well of course I do!" Amelia also whispered.

"No I meant _like _like. He likes you too, doesn't he? That's why he's been acting different today." Nami nodded to herself without waiting for an answer from the red-faced girl beside her. Amelia stood up and walked out of the room so as to prevent herself from getting too angry.

It was true, so why was she so upset? Did it have anything to do with wanting it kept secret? She didn't care who knew, right? She shook her head and decided to walk it off. She climbed up the mast to the crow's nest really quickly. Nobody saw her go up there or noticed her falling asleep with the wind calming her down.

Sanji sighed. He couldn't find Amelia anywhere, and her food was going to get cold!

"Amelia-chan! Where are you? Amelia-chaaaannnn!" Sanji's voice woke Amelia up and she sleepily poked her head over the edge of the crow's nest.

"Hmmm? Sanji?" He couldn't hear her mumbled words seeing as she was so high above him. "Coming…"

She stood up and stepped over the edge of the basket to climb down the ropes, but due to sleep making her a bit clumsy she missed.

Sanji almost fell over from shock when he saw Amelia land on the ground in front of him. The floorboards underneath her cracked from the impact and she simply sat there and blinked a few times.

"Amelia?! Amelia, are you okay?"

"Huh? Oh sorry, I missed the rope." She giggled a little bit before standing up and dusting herself off while looking up towards the crow's nest. "Well that's not good."

"N-not good? Amelia-chan you just fell from-"

"Sorry! I just fell asleep is all! Don't worry about me, I'm as fit as a fiddle see?" She jumped up and down a few times as if to prove her point. "So, can I get something to eat?"

Sanji sighed as he realized that she didn't want to talk about it. He nodded his head.

"Yes, dinners ready. Also, if you feel up to it I'd like to talk to you in a little bit."

"Sure! Let's eat first though, I want to enjoy the food you made! What's on the menu?" He smiled and listed all of the things she could eat as he walked her to the kitchen.

"Sanji." Amelia's voice was a bit solemn as she put down what she was about to take a bite of.

"Yes?"

"Everyone else has left the room now, it's just us."

"Y-yes?" Sanji was confused, what was Amelia getting at? She sighed.

"You've wanted to ask me something all afternoon, and I assumed that you held it back because there were others within hearing range. Sanji, I've told you before I'd never lie to you, so just ask me and get your answer." Amelia gave him a small smile.

"How did you know I wanted to ask you a question?"

"I just knew. For some reason, I just know things are 'feeling' if you know what I mean. Your aura is very confused, and I believe it has to do with me."

"Okay, there's one question right there then. What do you mean, aura?" Amelia sighed and Sanji wondered if his question bothered her.

"An aura is a sort of colored glow that radiates from everything, sometimes more visible than others. It tells whoever can see it all about it." At Sanji's confused expression Amelia sighed. "It's hard to explain to someone who can't see auras. Most people can't."

"So you know all about me?"

"No, I know all about how you are feeling, certain things that you've been doing… Let's see… okay, take this for example." Amelia picked up a small chipped rock that had fallen on the floor by her feet.

"This pebble has a very thin aura because it is not a living thing and therefore has no feelings. It _does_ however have enough of one to tell me that it used to be part of a cliff that towered over the area that eventually became the area we went through. That it became part of the road going through the market we walked on, that it was trod upon by more people than I could count, and that finally it chipped off a few days ago from a wagon got caught in someone's shoe and ended up here."

Amelia put the rock in the stunned Sanji's hand before continuing to eat. She was able to eat for a full minute before he responded.

"Really? You can see all that just by looking at this rock?" She nodded and swallowed.

"Things with greater auras can tell me more, give more details. Living things however, people especially, I try not to read into."

"Really? Why not?" Amelia sighed. "You don't have to tell me, I just was wondering is all. If I could know everything about people I probably would go for it."

"Multiple reasons, but for one… to put it bluntly, it's rude. I mean, would you want someone reading your diary without your permission?"

"I don't have a diary, but no I wouldn't."

"Okay, so you can understand why I believe someone wouldn't like it if a stranger looked into their being, pulled out all of their memories and feelings, analyzed them, and then had more information on them than they might even know of themselves?"

"…"

"Yeah, it's complicated." Amelia took a drink and Sanji shook his head, trying to stop staring at her.

"So what do the auras look like? I mean, not when you're reading them, but just when you see them."

"Ah, well if I look around I see everything wrapped in a bit of it. I can't see my own aura, but everything else is covered in a layer of swirling mist-like color. You have a normal aura for a human, it's blue colored and is very friendly. I'm not reading into it, but even had I not known you I could tell that you are a good person."

"Woah, really? That's cool. What color is everyone else?"

"It always changes depending on what they are doing and what their mood is. For example," she smirked "when Luffy is eating, his aura is red-orange and it tells me that he could eat anything and be happy."

Sanji laughed rather loudly at this. It was true, Luffy tended to eat anything he could get his hands… er, mouth on.

"Was there anything else?"

"…I wanted to know more about you. I-I really like you Amelia-chan." He blushed. "I just want to know about you so I can help you, you know?" Amelia smiled.

"Sanji I like you too but-" He suddenly looked rather dejected.

"You don't like me like _that_ right? It's fine."

"No! Sanji I _really _like you!" They both blushed. "I just wanted to say that my past isn't exactly a fun subject."

"I won't force you to tell me Amelia-chan. I am just worried about you."

"I know. That's why I can try to tell you… but you have to promise to keep it secret for now alright?" He nodded as she stood up and walked to the other side of the table.

He turned bright red as she sat down in his lap and leaned her head back against his chest. She sighed and he instinctively wrapped his arms around her for comfort.

"It's okay Amelia-chan. I'm here for you." She nodded.

"Well I guess I should start from the beginning, or as far back as I can remember…"

She told Sanji about her life on that island, how she only remembered her life from age 8 and onward, how she never had a family or friends, how her abilities were considered monstrous and she was experimented on every day. She told him about how she risked everything to escape and about how her only friend died helping her to freedom, how she nearly starved in that dark room, and how much she cared about him. How much she believed he was her saving grace, her angel, and that she believed…

_I think I'm in love with you._

"A-Amelia-chan…" He buried his face in her shoulder and couldn't help but let out a quiet sob that only she could hear. "I-I wish I could have helped you sooner! I wish that I could just go back in time and saved you from all of that happening…"

"But if it didn't happen, I wouldn't have met you."

"Amelia … Chan…"

"It's okay now Sanji. Those people may have a bounty on me, they may want me dead, they may even find me one day… but I'm not afraid anymore. I have my Nakama, and I have you." He hugged her tighter.

"You're so strong. I can't believe how much strength you have. I r-respect your strength and admire that yet somehow I just want to wrap you up safely and hide you from the world forever. I can't explain that."

"That's okay, you don't have to." She tilted her head up and managed to lean up enough to kiss him gently. "I understand."

"I love you too Amelia -chan." He was about to kiss her again when someone opened the door to the kitchen and barreled in while laughing.

"SANJI! I'M HUNGRY!" Amelia moved off of Sanji quickly, knowing what was going to happen next.

"Luffy…" His curly eyebrow twitched in anger. Luffy could sense how mad he was too. "You just ate… go away…"

"But I'm Hungry!"

"Lu, you should probably go before he gets any angrier."

"Awww… okay. Sorry!" Luffy may not have been able to see auras like Amelia, but he could sense the anger radiating off of Sanji as he glared at him.

Amelia wrapped her arms around Sanji's back and nuzzled into his shoulder blades gently.

"Don't worry about it. I'm just glad I got that off of my chest. Thank you." His expression and aura both calmed immensely.

"Any time." He turned around in her arms so he was facing her and then picked her up suddenly, startling her half to death. He spun her around once before holding her close, to both of their embarrassment she had to wrap her legs around his waist to keep from falling.

"Sanji, what-"

"You lift me up, when I am down. You make me happy when my life is grey. I'll pick you up and never let you down~"

"S-Sanji! Isn't that part of my song?" He nodded with a smile.

"Do you remember it?" Amelia laughed.

"Nope~ not really. I just make it up as I go."

"I love your singing."

"Well I love your cooking."

"Yeah, but I could hear your singing all day, if you ate my cooking all day you'd get sick!" Amelia laughed harder as she wrapped her arms around Sanji's shoulders. He was glad he had such strong legs or else he might have been getting tired, holding her up so long.

"If you say that it's true, then I'll believe you~ what other choice do I have? My wonderful blonde would never lie to me~ not my Sanji!" He laughed.

"You are _really_ good at that you know."

"And _you're_ a really good cook." She stuck her tongue out at him before wiggling out of his grasp and standing on the ground again. "But that's just another thing I love about you."

Sanji smiled with her. It was so strange, looking at a girl and not feeling the need to woo her with overly kind words and exude hearts to flutter about and flirt. It was a good strange. He hadn't even really needed to try, Amelia just seemed to like him for who he was and he couldn't help but love that about her.

Amelia looked at her blonde boyfriend(?) with a joyful gaze. He had seen her at her worst moments and still called her beautiful, still said he loved her. It was amazing, she had never even thought she could have Nakama and now… she had someone to love.

I'm a cowboy. On a steel horse I ride, and I'm wanted WANTED~ dead or alive! o/

Love that song. ANYWAY Amelia, previously Lily, had a mary-sue name. I wasn't previously aware of the terminology, but I agree. It's not 'comforming' but I like this name better in a way.

So I went back and fixed it... therefore long time b4 I updated. Sorry~


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